B.C. Lions' Adam Bighill signs on for two more years

Middle linebacker Adam Bighill has re-upped for two more seasons with the B.C. Lions.

Photographed by:Wayne Leidenfrost, PROVINCE

VANCOUVER - Mike Reilly recommended Adam Bighill to the B.C. Lions, and that sage advice probably will serve as the former’s lasting legacy to the Canadian Football League club.

Reilly, the Lions’ backup quarterback, will seek out new frontiers when the CFL’s free agency period begins Feb. 15.

Bighill, meanwhile, is putting down roots in the Lower Mainland after agreeing to a two-year contract extension that will be announced Tuesday.

“Mike’s a good friend, and a longtime teammate,” said Bighill, who played with Reilly at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. “He’s capable of being one of the top quarterbacks in the CFL. Anybody would love to have him. I’d like him to stay, but I’m realistic to know it’s not going to happen.”

Reilly first steered the Lions toward Bighill, who was signed after the team worked him out at a free-agent camp in Portland during the spring of 2011.

A year later, with the departure of Solomon Elimimian to the National Football League, Bighill quickly proved to be more than a stop-gap measure, taking over Elimimian’s starting middle linebacker position and becoming the catalyst for the CFL’s best defensive team.

By September, when Elimimian rejoined the Lions, GM Wally Buono referenced Bighill’s impact by suggesting he would begin the process of a contract extension and raise. Bighill signed the new deal on Monday, exactly a week after being named to the All-CFL team along with Edmonton linebacker J.C. Sherritt, the player who edged him out as the West Division nominee for most outstanding defensive player. Sherritt won the league-wide award during Grey Cup week in Toronto.

“To be recognized as one of the best at your position, throughout the whole league, it’s an honour, and it means a lot. I’m excited about it,” Bighill said. “I wasn’t too upset that J.C. won. He’s a great player, and the vote could have gone either way. The biggest regret still is that we didn’t win the Grey Cup.”